South Korean dog meat farmers press back versus growing transfer to forbid their market

PYEONGTAEK, South Korea — The dogs bark and gaze as Kim Jong-kil approaches the rusty cages housing the big, short-haired animals he costs their meat. Kim opens a door and family pets one dog’s neck and chest.

Kim says he takes pride in the dog meat farm that has actually supported his family for 27 years, however is distressed over growing efforts by political leaders and activists to forbid the business, which he is committing his kids.

“It’s more than simply feeling bad. I definitely oppose these relocations, and we’ll activate all our ways to withstand it,” Kim, 57, said at his farm in Pyeongtaek city, simply south of Seoul.

Dog meat usage is a centuries-old practice on the Korean Peninsula and has actually long been considered as a source of endurance on hot summer season days. It’s neither clearly prohibited nor legislated in South Korea, however increasingly more individuals desire it forbidden. There’s increasing public awareness of animal rights and stress over South Korea’s worldwide image.

The anti-dog meat campaign just recently received a huge increase when the nation’s very first lady revealed her assistance for a restriction and 2 legislators sent expenses to get rid of the dog meat trade.

“Foreigners believe South Korea is a cultural powerhouse. But the more K-culture increases its worldwide standing, the larger shock immigrants experience over our dog meat usage,” said Han Jeoungae, an opposition legislator who sent legislation to forbid the dog meat market last month.

Prospects for passage of an anti-dog meat law are uncertain since of demonstrations by farmers, restaurant owners and others associated with the dog meat market. Surveys recommend that a person in 3 South Koreans opposes such a restriction, though the majority of people do not consume dog meat any longer.

Dogs are likewise consumed in China, Vietnam, Indonesia, North Korea and some African nations, consisting of Ghana, Cameroon, Congo and Nigeria.

Last month, Indonesian authorities revealed completion of dog and cat massacre at an animal market on the island of Sulawesi following a yearslong campaign by regional activists and world stars. The Tomohon Extreme Market will end up being the very first such market in Indonesia to go dog and cat meat-free, according to the anti-animal cruelty group Humane Society International.

South Korea’s dog meat market gets more worldwide attention since of its credibility as a rich, ultra-modern democracy. It is likewise the only country with industrial-scale farms. Most farms in South Korea have more than 500 dogs, according to a dog farmers’ association.

During a recent go to, Kim’s farm, among the nation’s biggest with 7,000 dogs, appeared fairly tidy however there was a strong smell in some locations. All dogs are kept in raised cages and are fed with food waste and ground chicken. They are seldom launched for workout and generally are cost meat one year after they are born.

Kim said 2 of his kids, ages 29 and 31, are running the farm with him, which business has actually been going quite well. He said the dogs reproduced for their meat are various from family pets, a concept opposed by activists.

It’s challenging now to discover dog meat dining establishments in Seoul’s busy downtown, though lots of still exit in the countryside.

“I just make one-third of the money I utilized to make. Young individuals do not come here. Only ailing old individuals come for lunch,” said Yoon Chu-wol, 77, the owner of a dog meat restaurant in Seoul’s Kyungdong conventional market. “I inform my elderly clients to come and consume my food more often prior to it’s prohibited.”

Farmers likewise deal with growing examination from authorities and significantly negative popular opinion. They grumble that authorities visit them consistently in action to problems submitted by activists and people over declared animal abuse and other misdeed. Kim said more than 90 such petitions were submitted versus his farm throughout a recent four-month period.

Son Won Hak, basic secretary of the dog farmers’ association, said lots of farms collapsed in recent years since of falling dog meat costs and weaker need. He believes that’s an outcome of activist projects and unjust media reports concentrating on farms with inferior conditions. Some observers, nevertheless, state usage of dog meat was already decreasing, with younger individuals keeping away from it.

“Quite truthfully, I’d like to stop my job (as a farmer) tomorrow. We can’t with confidence inform our kids that we’re raising dogs,” Son said. “When my buddies called me, they said ‘Hey, are you still running a dog meat farm? Isn’t it unlawful?'”

The variety of farms throughout South Korea has actually stopped by half from a couple of years ago to about 3,000 to 4,000, and about 700,000 to 1 million dogs are butchered each year, a decrease from a number of million 10 to twenty years earlier, according to the dog farmers’ association.

Ju Yeongbong, an authorities of the farmers’ association, said farmers wish to continue for about 20 more years up until older individuals, their primary clients, pass away, enabling the market to naturally vanish. Observers state most farmers are likewise in their 60s to 70s.

Borami Seo, a director of the South Korea workplace of the Humane Society International, said she opposes the ongoing killing of countless dogs for such an extended duration. “Letting this quiet cruelty to (dogs) be dedicated in South Korea does not make good sense,” Seo said.

“(Dog meat usage) is too anachronistic, has components of cruelty to animals and impedes our nationwide development,” said Cheon JinKyung, head of Korea Animal Rights Advocates in Seoul.